Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has ruled out a second vote on British involvement in military intervention in Syria.
Speaking to BBC News, whilst maintaining that he believed that Assad was responsible for the chemical weapons attack on the ghouta suburb of Damascus on 21st August, saying:
“I don’t think there’s any point in us going back to Parliament asking the same question”
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Whilst the government would not ask the same question of parliament again, he did leave a little room for future changes of situation which “might require an entirely different set of decisions”.
Boris Johnson earlier claimed that a second vote might be possible if “better evidence” became available about Assad’s role in the chemical attack.
The current intelligence does point to a chemical attack, likely with sarin gas, but it is very difficult to prove beyond doubt that the attack came from the Syrian military with orders from above, and not possibly a single rogue unit going beyond their remit.
The “dodgy dossier” which resulted in British involvement in the invasion of Iraq under the guidance of Tony Blair still hangs over parliament and any action it might take over possibly refutable evidence.
